When an ear is examined by a medical professional, the medical professional must use one hand to pull the external portion of the ear backwards to straighten the curved ear canal in order to visualize the tympanic membrane (i.e., the ear drum). The medical professional then uses the other hand to accomplish the task of examining the ear. This examination often requires a magnified light source to illuminate the ear canal and an otoscope with an appropriately sized ear speculum, which can be a hollow, frustoconical apparatus through which a medical professional can look to examine the ear canal. If removal of ear wax within the ear canal is needed, the medical professional also needs a separate apparatus (such as an ear curette), which can be a hook that is inserted into the ear canal to scoop and remove the ear wax from the ear canal.
Often times, medical professionals elect to leave the ear wax within the ear canal because removal is burdensome and time consuming due to the need for the medical professional to hold the external portion of the ear backwards, hold the ear speculum in place, and also utilize the ear curette to remove the ear wax. During such a procedure, the medical professional has difficulty performing the three tasks with two hands.